Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in American cinema and television. Originally designed to celebrate lifetime or career contributions to animation, the award has been given to individual works since 1992.
Membership in ASIFA-Hollywood is divided into three main categories: General Member (for professionals), Patron (for enthusiasts of animation), and Student Member. Members in each category pay a fee to belong to the branch. Selected professional members of the branch are permitted to vote to decide the awards.
The 48th and 49th Annie Awards ceremonies were held virtually on April 16, 2021, and March 12, 2022, respectively, due to the then ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
Max Fleischer
Max Fleischer (born Majer Fleischer ; July 19, 1883 – September 11, 1972) was an American animator and studio owner. Born in Kraków, in Austrian Poland, Fleischer immigrated to the United States where he became a pioneer in the development ...
and
Dave Fleischer
Dave Fleischer (; July 14, 1894 – June 25, 1979) was an American film director and producer who co-owned Fleischer Studios with his older brother Max Fleischer. He was a native of New York City.
Biography
Early life and career
Fleisch ...
were the first to be honored by the first Annie Awards for creating Betty Boop, bringing
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.Olive Oyl to the animated screen, and for inventing the technique of rotoscoping.
Naming "Annie Awards"
According to Foray, her husband Hobart Donavan suggested that the awards be called "Annie", because they are presented for excellence in animation.
Trophy
The first trophy for the Annie Award trophy was presented in the second award ceremony, to Walter Lantz, the founder of Walter Lantz Productions and creator of
Woody Woodpecker
Woody Woodpecker is a cartoon character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Productions, Walter Lantz Studio and Universal Animation Studios, Universal Animation Studio and distributed by Universal Pictures sinc ...
. Made of wood and plastic, it was shaped like a
zoetrope
A zoetrope is a Precursors of film#Modern era, pre-film animation device that produces the illusion of motion, by displaying a sequence of drawings or photographs showing progressive phases of that motion. A zoetrope is a cylindrical variant of ...
. The next year, Tom Woodward designed the trophy now presented.
Ub Iwerks
Ubbe Ert "Ub" Iwerks ( ; March 24, 1901 – July 7, 1971), was an American animator, cartoonist, character designer, Invention, inventor, and special effects technician, known for his work with Walt Disney Animation Studios in general, and f ...
In 2008, the Annie Award nominees for Best Short Subject included two
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
cartoons, a
Pixar
Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...
short, and two independent films: Picnic Pictures' '' The Chestnut Tree'', and
Don Hertzfeldt
Don Hertzfeldt (born August 1, 1976) is an American animator, writer, and independent filmmaker. He is a two-time Academy Award nominee who is best known for the animated films ''It's Such a Beautiful Day (film), It's Such a Beautiful Day'', the ...
's short '' Everything Will Be OK''. Official rules for the Annie Awards state that voting members must view all nominated achievements in their entirety before casting their ballot for a winner. Members are directed to view the nominated films on a secure website.
When the online ballot launched on January 15, the two independent films were not included for voters to judge. ASIFA acknowledged this error over a week later, at which point all the votes were reportedly thrown out and the balloting system was reset. Voters were instructed to return and re-vote the category. "The Chestnut Tree" was now uploaded properly to the ballot; however, '' Everything Will Be OK'' was again not included: this time, the online ballot only played a portion of this film's 17-minute running time to voters, abruptly cutting out in the middle of a scene. ASIFA again took several days to repair the ballot, but this time allowed voting to continue.
By the time the ballot officially closed on February 1, '' Everything Will Be OK'' was only available to voters for less than 24 hours of the entire 18-day voting period. Even though ASIFA apologized to Hertzfeldt, they took no further action and carried on with the event, awarding the prize to the
Pixar
Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...
DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio, owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal as part of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios, Inc, Universal Stud ...
's '' Kung Fu Panda'' swept the Annie Awards in a surprise upset over
Pixar
Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...
's ''
WALL-E
''WALL-E'' (stylized with an interpunct as ''WALL·E'') is a 2008 American animated Romance film, romantic science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by Andrew Stanton, produced b ...
'', which won no Annie Awards but did go on to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Many felt that the vote had been rigged: DreamWorks at the time gave each of their employees a free membership to ASIFA-Hollywood, which in turn conferred voting rights. (For most film awards, voting rights cannot be bought but must be conferred by one's peers.)
As a result, Walt Disney Studios decided to cease submissions and support for the 2010 Annie Awards from their two animated film divisions,
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...
and Pixar. Due to Disney's complaints, ASIFA-Hollywood changed the rules on voting for individual achievement categories, making those categories only available to professionals within those categories. ASIFA-Hollywood head Antran Manoogian also said that Annie voters would in the future have to be approved by a committee and non-professionals would now be ineligible to vote.
That was not enough for Disney president Ed Catmull, who had called for an advisory committee of relevant executives representing each studio to recommend rule changes to the ASIFA board. Catmull said, "We believe there is an issue with the way the Annies are judged, and have been seeking a mutually agreeable solution with the board. Although some initial steps have been taken, the board informed us that no further changes would be made to address our concerns." ASIFA-Hollywood did not agree to this demand.
Disney and Pixar rejoined the Annie Awards in 2011, with no formal announcement. Ironically, earlier that year, the Annie Awards had a near-exact replay of the 2009 results, with DreamWorks Animation's ''
How to Train Your Dragon
''How to Train Your Dragon'' is a media franchise from DreamWorks Animation and loosely based on the book series How to Train Your Dragon (novel series), of the same name by British author Cressida Cowell. It consists of three feature films: '' ...
'' sweeping all the major Annie Awards over Pixar's ''
Toy Story 3
''Toy Story 3'' is a 2010 American animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The third installment in the Toy Story (franchise), ''Toy Story'' series, it was directed by Lee Unkrich, the editor ...
'', which went on to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and also received a nomination for Best Picture.
Records
Film
The following nominees (motion pictures and direct-to-video films) received multiple nominations:
The following winners (motion pictures and direct-to-video films) received multiple awards:
TV
The following nominees (TV shows, specials, and special presentations) received multiple wins and nominations:
The following winners (TV shows, specials, and special presentations) received multiple awards:
Other
Films (feature-lengths and shorts)
* First non-English-language film to win Best Animated Feature
** '' Spirited Away'' (2002)
* First stop-motion film to win Best Animated Feature
** '' Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'' (2005)
* Most awards won by a feature-length film: 11
** '' Coco'' (2017)
* Most awards won by a short film: 4
** '' The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse'' (2022)
* Most awards sweep every nominations with more than 3 by feature-length films: 15 films
** '' Coco'' (2017); with all 11 categories won out of 13 nominations.
** ''
The Incredibles
''The Incredibles'' is a 2004 American animated superhero film written and directed by Brad Bird. Produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures, the film stars the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Spencer ...
How to Train Your Dragon
''How to Train Your Dragon'' is a media franchise from DreamWorks Animation and loosely based on the book series How to Train Your Dragon (novel series), of the same name by British author Cressida Cowell. It consists of three feature films: '' ...
'' (2010); with all 10 categories won out of 15 nominations.
** ''
Mulan
Hua Mulan () is a legendary Chinese folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era (4th to 6th century Common Era, CE) of Chinese history. Scholar, Scholars generally consider Mulan to be a fictional character. Hua Mulan is depicte ...
'' (1998); with all 10 categories won out of 12 nominations.
** ''
Finding Nemo
''Finding Nemo'' is a 2003 American animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by Andrew Stanton, co-directed by Lee Unkrich, and produced by Graham Walters, from ...
Pocahontas
Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, also known as Matoaka and Rebecca Rolfe; 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. S ...
'' (1995); with all 4 categories won out of 7 nominations.
** '' Spirited Away'' (2002); with all 4 categories won out of 4 nominations.
** '' I Lost My Body'' (2019); with all 3 categories won out of 3 nominations.
* Most nominations received by feature-length films: 16
** ''
The Incredibles
''The Incredibles'' is a 2004 American animated superhero film written and directed by Brad Bird. Produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures, the film stars the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Spencer ...
* Most wins received by a single season: 9
** '' Arcane'' (first season, 2021)
* Most awards sweep every nominations with more than 3 in a single year
** '' Arcane'' (first season, 2021); with all 9 categories won out of 9 nominations